Sunday, May 25, 2014

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Husband and wife PI team Helen Hawthorne and Phil Sagemont are about to find out murder is no day at the beach….

There’s a dark cloud over Sunny Jim’s Stand-Up Paddleboard Rental business on Florida’s Riggs Beach—especially after one of his clients is killed in a tragic paddleboarding mishap. Sunny Jim is sure it was no accident, and he hires Helen and Phil to find the murderer.

As the couple investigates, they discover dark undercurrents of corruption behind the cheerful facades of the beachfront businesses. But the sands of time are running out, and if they don’t catch the killer soon, Sunny Jim won’t be the only one to go under….

My Review:Board Stiff is a cozy mystery. This book was the twelfth in a series, but this story did not spoil the mysteries in the previous books. This series does have an ongoing mystery, though, that is solved in this book. All the needed background to that mystery was given in this story, so you don't need to read the previous books to understand what is going on.

I was initially very intrigued by the paddleboarding mystery as it could have been a complex and clever mystery. While they know who is likely whodunit for many of Sunny Jim's troubles, they don't know for sure who's paying whodunit or who the murderer is.

But about midway through, the ongoing blackmailing mystery sidetracked the main mystery until it was all about the conflict that this blackmailing created between Helen and Phil. They started acting like little children and messed up big time on their main investigation because they were so busy squabbling. My opinion of Phil went from "eh, okay guy" to "throw that catch back!" though I did see why his rejection was very upsetting for Helen. If you don't mind drama, you'll probably like the book more than I did.

There were no graphic sex scenes. There was a fair amount of explicit bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery to fans of the series who don't mind drama.

If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
A relaxing day of rock climbing takes a disturbing turn when Kayden McKenna's route leads her face to face with a dead climber. Is it a terrible accident or something sinister? When the case is handed to the overburdened sheriff, he turns to Jake Westin. With Jake's past now revealed, he's ready to use his talent for investigation again--but he could never prepare for where the case will take him.

Kayden and Jake soon realize that the death was no accident. And worse, it seems the killer is on to them. When strange things begin happening in Yancey, Jake is terrified that once again his world may put someone he loves in danger. But the truth is far worse than he could ever imagine.

My Review:Silenced is a Christian romantic suspense novel. It's the fourth in a series, but you don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one and this one didn't spoil the suspense storylines of the previous novels. However, the romance apparently did start in a previous novel.

The rock climbing aspect of the story was interesting. The mystery did have clues that made whodunit guessable (without being obvious), but the murder mystery was pretty quickly solved. Much of the story was about a case from Jake's past that isn't quite as wrapped up as he thought. This created the physical-danger suspense.

I liked how we're allowed to see why Kayden is resisting a relationship with Jake, and it's a believable reason. I never understood why Jake fell in love with Kayden because we're told she had been mean to him, but I presume this was explained in a previous book. I was okay with the relationship without knowing because he seemed to know exactly what Kayden was like (reserved, a risk taker, etc.) and accepted her for who she was.

The Christian element was mainly a few prayers and then a brief (but profound) comment by Jake at the end relating to Kayden's fears. So the book wasn't "preachy." There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this suspenseful novel.

If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Piper Lamb has opened her own shop of pickles and preserves, called Piper’s Picklings, in the idyllic small town of Cloverdale. The Cloverdale fair offers Piper a sweet opportunity to promote her business. With her new assistant, Amy, she sets up a booth centered around an eye-catching display of the ever-popular dills in an old-fashioned barrel of brine.

But things soon turn sour when fairgoers witness a fight between Amy’s boyfriend, Nate, and town council blowhard—and bagpipe player—Alan Rosemont. When Rosemont is found floating in Piper’s barrel, Nate becomes the prime murder suspect. With Amy’s boyfriend in a pretty pickle, there’s no time to dillydally. But as Piper searches for the real killer, she needs to be careful to preserve her own life…or she may end up a pickled Piper herself.

My Review:Pickled Piper is a cozy mystery. The heroine was a nice person, and she tried to solve the mystery by uncovering useful information about other possible suspects rather than by accusing people to their faces or starting ruinous rumors. So I liked her.

The mystery did have some clues and you could guess whodunit from those clues, yet it wasn't really a puzzle mystery. The characters made some assumptions about who hated the dead guy and then tried to discover which of these people could have been in the right area at the right time. Until the very end, there wasn't any evidence, just people with motives who could have done it. I prefer mysteries where you have to fit all the evidence together until it points to one person.

There was a minor amount of bad language. There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery to those who don't mind if it's not a "puzzle mystery."

If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Claire Summers is a determined, independent single mother who is doing her best to make lemonade out of the lemons life has handed her. Keith Watson is a results-oriented workaholic with no time for a social life. As the executive assistant to a local philanthropic businessman, he’s used to fielding requests for donations. But when a letter from Claire’s eleven-year-old daughter reaches his desk, everything changes. The girl isn’t asking for money, but for help finding the long-lost son of an elderly neighbor.

As Keith digs reluctantly into this complicated assignment, he has no idea how intertwined his life and Claire’s will become–nor how one little girl’s kindhearted request will touch so many lives and reap so many blessings.

My Review:One Perfect Spring is a Christian romance novel. I always enjoy romances that involve non-typical, "working" dates. The characters were nice people, though they didn't always act nice. Claire and Keith seemed like a well-suited match after they started to relax around each other. There were some unexpected and not-so-happy twists that kept the story from being too predictable.

The story was nice and I enjoyed reading it, but the characters had too many similarities for the story to feel like it really happened. For one thing, they all seem hyper-aware of the symbolism in their lives. There were many passages like (from page 186): "She slid her hands back into the oven mitts and....transferred the dish to the table as fast as she could, touching it as briefly as possible. Kind of like the way she'd handled the events that had gotten her into a mess twenty-two years ago."

I don't know anyone in real life who is so introspective or who frequently thinks about symbolism like this. The characters were also very aware of exactly why they acted the way they did, from making a snippy comment to why they overwork. One or two had reasons to have thought some of this out, but it seemed odd that all of the viewpoint characters had these similar thought patterns.

The Christian element involved characters praying for guidance (then hoping things would happen to make God's will clear) and a few characters deciding to attend church more frequently. The overall theme, though, was that things might not always turn out the way you wanted, but God had it all planned out for good.

There was no sex or bad language. I'd recommend this enjoyable story.

If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

In SILENCED, Book 4 of author Dani Pettrey’s award-winning Alaskan Courage series, a relaxing day of rock climbing takes a dark turn when Kayden McKenna’s route brings her face-to-face with a dead climber. Was the climber’s death a terrible accident or something more sinister?

When the case is handed to Yancey’s overburdened sheriff, he turns to Jake Westin for help. With the truth of Jake’s past now revealed, Jake agrees to use his investigation skills for this one case–but nothing could prepare him for where the case will take him.

As Kayden and Jake work together to uncover the truth, will they also find a refuge in each other? Or will the deadly plans of a killer destroy their chance at love?

To celebrate the novel, Dani and Bethany House Publishers are pleased to present the RUGGED ROMANCE SWEEPSTAKES.

This giveaway starts May 1, 2014 and ends May 21, 2014 @ 11:59 pm (PST).
Entry is open to US residents only, age 18 and over. Winners will be selected Friday, May 23, 2014, and announced at DaniPettrey.com.

About Me

My name is Debbie. I'm a single female in my thirties. I have three book review blogs: one for well-written, clean fiction; one for nonfiction (memoirs, history, military, religion, and social issues); and a book club for Christian nonfiction.

My other review blogs

Why this blog?

I like to read, but it can be hard to find clean mainstream fiction anymore. Hopefully this blog will help others who have similar reading tastes to find clean novels to read.

In my reviews, I try to point out elements that I think readers may wish to know which might influence their decision to read a book. I'm not trying to convince people not to read a book as I'm fully aware that some things which bother me won't bother others at all. So if a book sounds fun to you, certainly give it a try!

Disclosure StatementI'm not paid to review books. I do receive free review copies from publishers, authors, etc., but I also review books I've bought or checked out of the library. I review all books by the same standard, no matter the source. My readers are assuming I am, and the publishers expect it.